This is a game. It looks like a game, it acts like a game, it even plays like a game. You press buttons to move, you press buttons to shoot, you can even press buttons to do other stuff and there's lots of stuff to do. You can build stuff, you can build stuff that builds stuff AND you can build stuff that blows stuff up. You can attach stuff that blows stuff up to stuff that moves, and you can make stuff that moves move around stuff that doesn't. You can also watch the stuff you buillt up blow other stuff up, OR you can fly around in stuff you put stuff on and blow stuff up yourself. It takes time to get some stuff done, and you do need patience to play if you want the best stuff or even a lot of stuff... even longer if you want a lot of the best stuff... but when you get a lot of the best stuff and throw it at a load of other stuff, the stuff that happens is pretty awesome stuff. So if you like a game with lots of stuff and no singular direction to do stuff in, then this stuff is for you.

After years of playing on and off again with over 500 hours both on and off Steam under my belt, I can say this is my favorite game. This won't be universal, though, as the game has a very large learning gap and very little instruction, coupled with a format of gameplay that is best discribed as "love it or hate it". The lack of a tutorial doesn't help.

For those wondering if this is worth playing or buying, one must ask themselved what do they want first. Do you want to be a pirate in space firing on ships outside of the areas controlled by the law, and don't mind the high dificulty? Do you want to spend many hours trading items from one station to another to gain money and eventually buy your own states, hiring ships to trade for you and leading your new found corporate empire to grand wealth? Do you want to explore the universe, and all it's mystory and see it's dark secrets, with all the risks that may bring? Do you want to be a cop, shooting down pirates, evil robots, evil incests and whom ever else may oppose order?This and much more is in the game.

However: if you want instant gratification, always playing at a fast pace, or everything being handed to you?Then this game is not for you.

Ah the X Series. I haven't heard anything good about rebirth the latest installment to the series but this review isnt about that. X3: Reunion Was the game that turned me on to the whole series. In fact just thinking about it now is making me want to sink even more hours into a title i have already sank more than what would commonly be called healthy gaming. Once you get past the steep learning curve and learn how to fly and fight and trade effectively, this game suddenly turns into how you would want to live in a future that affords you your own space oddesy. Space suddenly turns into your own playground and you become immersed in a universe that is fully dynamic.

With that said i think this title, X3 Terran conflict and X3 Albion Prelude were accidental. Terran conflict takes place after the events of this title, and adds a Major graphics overhaul. And prelude again expands on the story of Terran conflict as well as this title adding features and interfaces that were touched on in this title but done poorly. It is pretty evident the beauty of this game and the other X3 titles is the immersion of the struggle you are put through to learn, and adapt to the changes that happen around you all while getting the sense of achievement from overcoming and growing from the experiences you encounter.

What these games lack is a sense of person however. You sort of create a character or take on a storyline however you rarely interact as that character. You never really see the character and the universe usually refers to you as pilot. In Reunion, the main story you play as julian brennan. working along side Elena Kho. Trying to find your place in the universe. There is an extensive storyline and it all seems to fit very well all things considered. The other characters however offer a backstory as to why you start out where you do, and how the other races react to you in the beginning. Ultimately it defines how difficult the game is in the beginning to get started. Once you get on a roll however and you grow all plots start and play out no matter who you play as with the exception of Julian's plot. his has a little more frosting so to speak. Otherwise its all essentially the same. Reunion is also of the three X3 games that has a main character. Terran Conflict and Prelude do not feature main plot character who playing as change the dialogue or offer any additional content.

Pros:Dynamic Universe - Everything you do or not do effects the universe in some way.Rich plots - The back story to each of the plots are very compelling and their rewards give a strong sense of achievementDiverse spacecraft - Each ship has its own classification as well as strength and weaknesses. Even some that are unique and rare. Races - Each race is unique in its own way and their ships fit the typical role the races engage in.Fleets - You can build, or buy your own fleet and wage war against anything within the universe, ofcourse doing so will have consquences such as you may end up destroying something you want later. The good news is there is one race you can attack and murder with extreme prejudice and not have to worry about losing a future trading station.

Cons:Voice acting - Its there but at the time this game was released other studios did it better. Races - While each race is unique there is nothing unique among their individuals. Humans however occasionally have diversity among males and females but you will be hard pressed telling a male or female split, paranid or teladi. No planetary exploration. The planets in each system are just there to look pretty it seems. No station exploration. Each station you only dock at and interact with through the ship.

From what i understand Rebirth attempted at affording planetary and staion exploration however at the cost of starship diversity. Further more these features were not done well and as such losing the ability to fly and construct a diverse fleet was too great of a sacrifice against bland cookie cutter stations.

As a programmer, any game that lets you actually create "software" to manage your space-trade-fleets, has got a leg up already. While I'm not fan of the "jump-gate" type galaxies, that is probably my only complaint about this game. Individual combat is fun, but I have yet to build a combat fleet, so I'm not sure how that will go. The economic system is quite impressives, with dozens of different space stations you can dock at, and trade with. Eventually you can even build stations of your own. The game lacks a good tutorial, built into the main plot, so I was fumbling around quite a bit for a while. But once I got the hang of things, you can really see how well the various components of the game work together.

X3 Reunion is a game of monstrous proportions. Everything in it is vast and massive in a way that's both exciting and daunting. It is relatively easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the game and the lack of any sort of proper guiding hand to teach you the basic will make many newcomers run for the hills. If you stick it out however you will find that underneath it all is one of the best open space games since the last game from the X series.

Reunion picks up where X2 left off and starts you as Julian Brennan once again. Your trade empire from the previous game destroyed by the Khaak you now have to resurrect it from the ashes, if that's what you want. The story missions available are in true X style utterly forgettable and easily missable. They can even be disabled entirely by picking from one of several sandbox starts this time around.

As always you start you start your adventure in the X universe in a small dingy of a space worthy craft and set about making your mark on the galaxy. How you do this is entirely up to you, you can trade, fight, explore however you like and in whichever forms you want. Some players might want to avoid the fighting aspect entirely and just set up a gigantic trading empire. Others might want to sustain themselves through pirate activity. The beauty of the X games have always been the choice they give you in going what you want to do, you are never forced to fight or forced to trade, it's all entirely up to you how you want to proceed from any given position.

Reunion is not without it's faults however and in this case, it's the bugs top the list. The game was almost completely unplayable at launch and while patches have managed to remove most if not all of the problems it is still not an issue that is so easily forgivable.

Graphically is where the game is truly impressive however, never before has space looked this beautiful and the objects that inhabit it looked this crisp. Every new sector you visit has a sense of uniqueness about it that just makes you want to keep going to see what's in the next one. The ships are beautifully detailed and the background ambient images of stars, nebulae and planets tickle the imagination. This is indeed one stunning visual experience.

The soundtrack is the standard space opera opus that we have heard so many times before, it doesn't detract anything from the experience but it doesn't add anything to it either. Luckily it is easy enough to disable the ingame music and put whatever you feel is appropriate on the stereo. The voice acting you encounter throughout the game, from the missions to your ships onboard computer voice, is downright atrocious however and take you out of the game with an annoying level of certainty.

All in all X3 Reunion is a solid continuation of the X saga, building on the foundations that has remained mostly unchanged since the very first game. Should you desire an open ended space epic then this is the game for you. If you have the stamina to get into the learn the ropes then X3 is as good as it gets, at least until the next X game is released.